NEW DELHI — PepsiCo India has named Viraj Chouhan as its new chief communications officer, following the departure of former communications head Poonam Kaul to Apple earlier this year.

Chouhan joins from Ola, which he joined as chief communications officer at the end of 2017. Prior to Ola he was executive director of corporate communications at MTS India, and also counts senior stints with Coca-Cola, Bharti and Vaishnavi.

Ola has responded to Chouhan's departure by reverting communications leadership to Anand Subramanian, who previously served as head of marketing and communications prior to Chouhan's arrival. Carson Dalton, who joined Ola at the same time as Chouhan, remains in place as director of corporate affairs.

"PepsiCo India has been on a powerful transformation journey towards sustainable, responsible and profitable growth and Viraj will lead our communications efforts in taking this story to consumers, partners and stakeholders at large,” said PepsiCo India chairman and CEO Ahmed ElSheikh.

"The company’s performance with purpose philosophy has truly been an inspiration that has seen some pioneering work in the areas of collaborative potato farming, community water programmes and transforming the product portfolio," added Chouhan. "I am delighted to join this endeavour."